White Noise at eNoteshttp://www.enotes.com/white-noise
The latest questions and answers, from members following White Noise at eNotes.Thu, 15 May 2014 08:28:31 PSTen-usIn an information society, there is much left open to interpretation and...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explore-relationship-between-death-its-various-469089
In an information society, there is much left open to interpretation and therefore "real" becomes a subjective word, based on differing perspectives and understandings which in turn create a less tangible, every day existence. In White Noise, DeLillo introduces the reader to the possibilities of living according to a changing set of standards and rules as the "real" world fades away and the physical senses no longer determine events or prompt...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explore-relationship-between-death-its-various-469089Thu, 15 May 2014 08:28:31 PSTWhite Noise by Don DeLillo is a social commentary on many things,...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explore-relationship-between-death-its-various-469089
White Noise by Don DeLillo is a social commentary on many things, including excessive materialism and the fear of death. The novel begins and ends with displays of materialism. Jack Gladney is a college professor who once again watches a great throng of parents dropping their kids off for the fall semester. The list of items which those students are unloading from their cars is extensive: sleeping bags, sporting equipment, refrigerators,...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explore-relationship-between-death-its-various-469089#1Thu, 15 May 2014 06:32:11 PSTExplore the relationship between death (in its various conceivable...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explore-relationship-between-death-its-various-469089
Explore the relationship between death (in its various conceivable forms) and consumption (notably: eating and buying) in the "real" postmodern world.http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explore-relationship-between-death-its-various-469089#2May 11, 2014, 8:12 pm PSTIn Jean-Francois Lyotard's critical opinion of postmodernism,...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/with-reference-white-noise-discuss-how-routine-466751
In Jean-Francois Lyotard's critical opinion of postmodernism, metanarratives (also known as the "grand narratives of living") are problematic because many of these narratives, particularly the ones presented in Don DeLillo's postmodernist novel White Noise, do not clearly point out the nature for legitimation. In simpler terms, we do not know exactly the nature of Jack's neurosis with death, nor can we see him as a tragic hero who is suffering...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/with-reference-white-noise-discuss-how-routine-466751Wed, 19 Feb 2014 23:20:57 PSTWith reference to White Noise by Don DeLillo, how does routine dailiness...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/with-reference-white-noise-discuss-how-routine-466751
With reference to White Noise by Don DeLillo, how does routine dailiness create what Jean-Francois Lyotard claims is "loss of faith" in the grand narrative of living?http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/with-reference-white-noise-discuss-how-routine-466751#3February 19, 2014, 6:21 pm PSTDon DeLillo is often accused of stylized writing and this passage from...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/read-passage-beginning-chapter-31-from-no-one-461721
Don DeLillo is often accused of stylized writing and this passage from White Sound does appear to be somewhat contrived. However, the need to eat cannot be overlooked and, at least, in its very direct way, this passage creates visual images for the reader that he may otherwise fail to recognize. The images are exaggerated versions of the real thing. By using exaggeration, DeLillo is able to draw attention to the "real" meanings behind the...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/read-passage-beginning-chapter-31-from-no-one-461721Wed, 30 Oct 2013 17:50:58 PSTRead the passage at the beginning of chapter 31 of White Noise by Don...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/read-passage-beginning-chapter-31-from-no-one-461721
Read the passage at the beginning of chapter 31 of White Noise by Don DeLillo, from “No one wanted to cook that night” to “We went back to eating for as long as it took to bite off and chew a single mouthful of food.” This passage involves DeLillo doing something he does very well: describing the rituals of modern industrial society, and capturing the rhythms of a mundane conversation. What do you think about this representation of...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/read-passage-beginning-chapter-31-from-no-one-461721#4October 30, 2013, 4:51 pm PSTJack Gladney's family is not traditional in nearly any sense of the...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-heinrichs-role-within-family-how-does-change-81375
Jack Gladney's family is not traditional in nearly any sense of the word, though they live in a small Midwestern town and live uneventful lives most of the time. White Noise, by Don DeLillo, follows the Gladney family for several years. Jack Gladney is a college professor who created and teaches a world-renown Hitler studies program (though he does not know German). Gladney named his now fourteen-year-old son Heinrich because he thought the...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-heinrichs-role-within-family-how-does-change-81375Sun, 14 Jul 2013 18:59:27 PSTIt was an immediate and electrifying success. The Chancellor went on to...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-did-posters-lost-pets-mean-brining-book-432259
It was an immediate and electrifying success. The Chancellor went on to serve as adviser to Nixon, Ford and Carter before his death on a ski lift in Austria. At Fourth and Elm, cars turn left for the supermarket. A policewoman crouched inside a boxlike vehicle patrols the area looking for cars parked illegally, for meter violations, lapsed inspection stickers. On telephone poles all over town there are homemade signs concerning lost dogs...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-did-posters-lost-pets-mean-brining-book-432259Sun, 19 May 2013 18:42:22 PSTBoth of these scenes take place right after the major event of Part II...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/first-babette-reads-from-tabloids-137-bottom-then-432614
Both of these scenes take place right after the major event of Part II of the novel, “The Airborne Toxic Event,”: Jack Gladney is told by an official (who’s reading a report of his computer screen) that he has been exposed to Nyodene D, with all of the nebulous and unknown consequences that may have. The official tells Jack, “you are the sum total of your data. No man escapes that.” Directly after this, Babette reads selections...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/first-babette-reads-from-tabloids-137-bottom-then-432614Fri, 10 May 2013 00:05:50 PSTAt first, the "feathery plume" is a marvel to behold. It is likely akin...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/chapter-21-chemical-leak-goes-from-feathery-plume-432613
At first, the "feathery plume" is a marvel to behold. It is likely akin to the perception of witnesses to the atom bomb who often describe the mushroom cloud as "beautiful." Like the atomic bomb, the perception of beauty becomes one of horror. The name change sounds official and scientific, but also is probaby designed to quell panic, as it is rather dull and benign in tone. The "feathery plume" may also be a tongue-in-cheek nod to a literary...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/chapter-21-chemical-leak-goes-from-feathery-plume-432613Sun, 5 May 2013 16:41:17 PSTAs the family is in the shelter during "The Airborne Toxic Event,"...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/first-babette-reads-from-tabloids-137-bottom-then-432614
As the family is in the shelter during "The Airborne Toxic Event," Babette reads from the tabloids, then Heinrich discusses knowledge. Why are these scenes back to back?http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/first-babette-reads-from-tabloids-137-bottom-then-432614#5May 4, 2013, 8:45 pm PSTIn chapter 21, the chemical leak goes from "feathery plume" to black...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/chapter-21-chemical-leak-goes-from-feathery-plume-432613
In chapter 21, the chemical leak goes from "feathery plume" to black billowing to cloud" to "airborne toxic event." Why is the naming significant?http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/chapter-21-chemical-leak-goes-from-feathery-plume-432613#6May 4, 2013, 8:42 pm PSTWhat did the posters of lost pets mean at the beginning of the book...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-did-posters-lost-pets-mean-brining-book-432259
What did the posters of lost pets mean at the beginning of the book White Noise by Don DeLillo?http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-did-posters-lost-pets-mean-brining-book-432259#7May 2, 2013, 7:20 pm PSTWinnie Richards, a minor character in Don DeLillo's novel White Noise,...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-did-winnie-richards-fear-losing-fear-death-302760
Winnie Richards, a minor character in Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, understands the importance of fearing, and respecting, death. At one point in the novel, Jack states "No sense of the irony of human experience, that we are the highest form of life on earth, and yet ineffably sad because we know what no other animal knows, that we must die." The fear of death, or lack of the fear of death, is very evident in the novel. Babette even...http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-did-winnie-richards-fear-losing-fear-death-302760Sat, 7 Jan 2012 02:32:43 PST